Daisy Chains
by Transient Joy
Summary: Spoilers for chapter 700. In which Bolt is not so oblivious to his stalker as his father once was.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Sarada couldn't believe what she was doing.

She was skipping class.

If she were caught, she would most definitely get into trouble. She had never been in trouble at school before. At home, sure - she had been caught once taking cookies before dinner. It was only because she was so hungry from training that she couldn't wait for dinner.

But at school she had always done her homework, never talked back to the teachers and listened in lessons. She was at the top of the class, a feat that she held proudly, mostly because her father was always held top of the class when he was at the Ninja Academy.

If Aburame-sensei caught her skipping class now, he would surely tell her father. And when her father found out, he would be displeased. He would not shout, scream and lecture like other fathers, no- Uchiha Sasuke was different. He would meet his daughter with a disapproving gaze which would surely be the worst punishment Sarada could ever receive.

She hated it. Oh how she hated that blank stare that felt as if it bore into her soul, the crushing disappointment which rolled off in waves, and the slight bow of the head which to her almost sounded like, 'How can this be my daughter?'

Sarada hated to disappoint her father.

And he would surely be disappointed with her now if he were to see what she was doing.

Uchiha Sarada was stalking a boy.

Well, stalking was such a strong word and Sarada would hate to use it out of context. She wasn't stalking him per se. It was more like following him from a distance to see what he was doing, without his knowledge. That wasn't stalking, right?

When Sarada thought of the word stalking, images of creepy masked men following young innocent girls in the dead of night came to mind. And that that wasn't what she was doing, so it had to be okay.

Only it wasn't.

She was skipping class_._

Which was bad as it was,was increasingly worse because it was because of _him._

Way worse than just skipping school.

He was the most annoying boy she had ever met (which was saying something, because she shared a class which Inojin and he was just horrible) and everything he did annoyed her. Well not everything, because he was annoyingly loyal to his friends and that had to count for something.

Uzumaki Boruto had been the bane of her existence for as long as she could remember. Her earliest memory of him came from when they were just toddlers. His parents had come over to her house and he had been placed in her crib with her.

It was bad enough that he had invaded her space but he had gone and spilled grape juice on her favourite blanket. She couldn't remember much from that day, they had been babies of course, but she could remember bashing him over the head with the same sippy cup that had spilt. He had wailed loudly until his mother had retrieved him from her crib, _her_ space.

That hadn't been the only incident of Uzumaki Boruto.

When she was three years old, both her parents had to go away on a mission together and Sarada had gone to stay at his house. When it was time to go to bed, Sarada was a little scared. She had never stayed over at someone else's house before.

But Hinata oba-san had been really nice to her and Sarada liked her a lot. She just couldn't believe how that _stupid Bolt_ could be her son. She finally got to bed after a glass of warm milk and cookies. In the morning when she had awoke she had found her hair covered in orange paint which had turned hard though the night. It had taken her days to wash the colour out of her hair.

When she was four years old, Boruto poured pudding all over her new purse that her father had bought for her while he was in Iwagakure. She was so mad she had punched him. How dare he? And did it have to be her purse? Her father had brought it especially for her!

When she was six years old she started the Ninja Academy. Unfortunately so did Boruto. The day before school had started, her father had pulled her aside to talk to her. He had told her to do her best and make him proud. With this, he presented her with very own set of polished kunai and shuriken.

She had used them before of course, but they had always been wooden or blunted. The set her father gave her were live weapons which she had never used before. So Sarada had proudly set off for her first day at the Academy. She had smugly shown her classmates her new weapons before racing off to break. When she had returned for her weapons lesson after lunch, she opened her holster to find in horror, rubber shuriken and kunai.

That _stupid Bolt_. That had only been the start of his terror.

He was annoying.

But somehow she found herself following him through the streets. It was relatively quiet, most of the villagers were getting on with their daily activities, but Sarada was still able to cloak her presence from him.

He had his hands in his pockets as he strolled through the streets, amiably whistling a tune. Every now and then he would stop and grin and then continue walking. He was obviously in a good mood.

Sarada's mood got worse with each step. What was she doing following that _stupid Bolt?_

It was only because she didn't want to see him hurt. That was what she told herself. Like his father in his youth, Boruto had a tendency to pull pranks on people. Sarada saw them as outrageous at best but they never failed to bring laughter to himself and those around him. Boruto's last prank however, was graffiting the Hokage Monument again in an attempt to attract his father's attention.

That time however, when attempting to bungee himself down the mountain to spray paint the past Hokage's faces, Boruto's rope snapped and he fell. If not for Konohamaru-sensei, Boruto could have been seriously injured or worse.

Sarada had watched the whole thing. Seeing Boruto fall like that made her heart stop. She was moving toward him before she could even realize what she was doing. It was like her body moved on its own. When she finally got to him, he was already laughing it off, but Sarada could see how fake it was. She hadn't missed the look of terror on his face when he fell.

So that was why Sarada was following him, and why she had skipped school. It was all for him. She had to see that his next prank wasn't going to endanger his life or cause bodily harm.

Sarada followed Boruto into a nearby flower shop. It was the same one that Ino oba-san, Inojin's mother worked at. She couldn't follow him inside of course, but it didn't take long for him to come out. She couldn't see what he had bought from where she was standing, but he held something in his hand.

What did Boruto need from the flower shop for his prank?

Boruto continued walking toward the nearby playground. It began harder Sarada to stay hidden for she was running out of things to hide behind.

Boruto stopped suddenly and turned around.

Sarada suppressed a squeak as she threw herself behind a nearby Spruce tree and hoped that he didn't see her.

"You can come out, dattebasa!"

Sarada's hope fell flat.

She considered making a run for it.

Sarada gritted her teeth, her pride wouldn't let her and dammit- she was an Uchiha. She wasn't going to run away from that _stupid Bolt._

Sarada slowly inched away from the tree, walking toward Boruto who was standing a few meters away from her. She didn't speak.

Boruto on the other hand grinned. "Hi!"

"Hn," answered Sarada, a pattern she had picked up from her father.

A silence erupted between them, but Boruto seemed to be buzzing with energy.

"So, skipping class, huh?" asked the blonde, hooking his hands on his pants pockets in an effort to look nonchalant.

Sarada stared at him for a minute, trying gauge the look he had on his face. All she could look at were his eyes though. They were cerulean blue, the exact same shade of his father's.

"Yes," answered Sarada slowly.

Boruto nodded, "Uh huh? Why?"

Sarada faltered. She couldn't tell him the real reason she was following him. He would laugh and she would never hear the end of it.

She quickly came up with a lie. "I wanted to wait for my father's arrival at the gate."

"So he's on a mission?"

Sarada was quick to answer. "Yes."

Boruto raised an eyebrow. "Really? Cuz he came by my house last night to drop off a scroll for my dad."

Sarada froze. Damn, she had been caught out.

"I think I know the real reason. You were stalking me," grinned Boruto pointing at her.

"Don't be an idiot," scowled Sarada. "I haven't been stalking you."

Boruto snickered, "So then why have you been following me all day?"

Sarada didn't speak. Had he known she was there all this time? She thought she had been discreet and undetectable.

"My mom's been teaching me to detect chakra signatures, ya know."

Sarada hadn't known that. She would have to be more careful next time. Next time? Was she planning to do this again?

Boruto smirked. "I think I know why you've been stalking me."

"Really?" glared Sarada, crossing her arms.

Boruto grinned. "You have a crush on me, dattebasa!"

"N-no I-I don't! Shut up!" stuttered Sarada angrily. She couldn't however stop the blush rising on her face.

A crush? On that _stupid Bolt_? How ridiculous.

"Admit it, you do!" Boruto grinned widely.

Sarada repressed the urged to hit him. "You're delusional."

"Oh yeah? Then why were you following me?" asked Boruto questioningly.

Sarada ground her teeth together. How had she ended up in this situation?

"I wanted to see you didn't end up hurt on your prank," muttered Sarada quickly, suddenly interested in the grass.

Boruto didn't laugh like she expected him to. She raised her head to look at him and was immediately startled by a strange look on his face.

"Really?" asked Boruto uncharacteristically quiet.

Sarada scowled. "Of course, you idiot."

A grin slowly erupted on Boruto's face as he walked toward her.

Sarada suddenly found herself closer to Boruto then she ever had been before. Geez, he was invading her space again. But she found herself unable to be angry to him any more. In his presence it felt hard to remember why she was always so irritated with him. And had he always been this tall?

"Admit it, Sarada. You have a crush on me," smiled Boruto.

That time she really did hit him.

"Owww, what was that for, dattebasa?" pouted Boruto, rubbing his hands on his aching head.

"For being an idiot," scoffed Sarada.

Boruto had dropped something he had been holding. It was the package he had bought from the flower shop. On the ground lay a handful of daisies, slightly crumpled from his boisterous travel.

Boruto followed Sarada's gaze and grinned. "Oh those. I bought them for you."

Sarada stared blankly at him. For her?

Boruto nodded, "I figured since we're going to get married one day, I ought to buy you flowers sometime."

It took a couple seconds before his words registered in her head.

"Married?!" shouted Sarada, at the top of her voice.

"Yeah, we're getting married one day," nodded Boruto as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Sarada couldn't speak. She stuttered incoherently, unable to respond.

Sarada's eyes were wide, her mouth agape like a fish. "_Why would you say that!? _WE ARE NOT getting married!"

Boruto beamed. "Of course we are. There used to be a girl who stalked this boy everywhere he went and they ended up getting married. They had children too."

Sarada threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "What? Who would every do such a thing?"

Boruto answered immediately. "My parents, of course."

Sarada stared incomprehensively at him.

If his parents did the same-

Oh Gods, she was going to marry that _stupid Bolt._

What was her father going to say?


End file.
